The New England Patriots have the biggest of aces up their sleeves: the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady. Despite turning 40 in a month, Brady has shown no signs of slowing down and is coming off one of the best seasons of his illustrious career; one, capped by a Super Bowl performance for the ages.
Naturally, seeing Brady ranked number one on a list of the NFL’s best quarterbacks is nothing new. His peers recently named him the best player in the league and so did Yahoo Sports’ Zach Pereles, who ranked each team’s quarterback situation. And, surprise, the Patriots come out on top once again.
1. New England Patriots (32 points)
Starter: Tom Brady (1st)
Backup: Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett (1st)
The Pats complete a clean sweep at both starter and backup. Brady, who will turn 40 before the season starts, shows no signs of slowing down, and now he has Brandin Cooks and a healthy Rob Gronkowski to throw to. Behind him, Garoppolo showed so well in his starting stint while Brady was suspended that he became the hottest of topics on trade rumor mills for a while. It’s clear several teams view him as an above-average starter, and the Patriots holding onto him as the franchise’s future proves his value even more. The reigning champs take the top spot with a perfect 32 points.
Not only is Brady ranked as the best starting quarterback in the NFL, the Patriots also have the top backup situation – and the 2016 season showed that this ranking is not unjustified. After all, Jimmy Garoppolo looked very good in his first two starts before suffering a shoulder injury; Jacoby Brissett was serviceable as well considering he was thrown into the fire as a rookie.
While it remains to be seen whether or not Garoppolo ultimately succeeds Brady as the Patriots’ starter, New England’s quarterback situation appears to be in good hands for the foreseeable future. And while other teams are also set up well none comes close to the reigning world champions.
After all, the difference between the top-ranked Patriots and the second-best team, the NFC champions Atlanta Falcons, is 5.8 points. The difference between the Falcons and the 12th ranked team, their NFC South rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is the same amount of points – showing once more just how well New England is set up at the most important position in the sport.